Thailand praises Kazakhstan's initiative in nuclear weapons non-proliferation

ASTANA. KAZINFORM - On August 24, 2018 at the initiative of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Thailand at the headquarters of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in Bangkok, a round table was held on the International Day against Nuclear Tests. Representatives of the diplomatic corps, international organizations, academic circles and the public attended the forum, Kazinform has learnt from the Kazakh MFA's press service. 

Participants observed a minute of silence commemorating the victims of the use and testing of nuclear weapons. In her speech, H.E. Ms. Raushan Yesbulatova, Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Thailand noted the exclusive role of the President Nursultan Nazarbayev in the formation of Kazakhstan as a principled and consistent supporter of nuclear disarmament and global nuclear security. On the rise of its independence having abandoned the world's fourth largest nuclear arsenal, Kazakhstan made a historic step that largely predetermined the future of the country's international activities. Kazakhstan was the first among the CIS member states to join the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. By signing the Semipalatinsk Treaty the Nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia was created. At the initiative of Kazakhstan, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration on the Achievement of a World Free of Nuclear Weapons. A recent confirmation of Kazakhstan's commitment to nuclear disarmament was the signing by our state on March 2, 2018 the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Yesbulatova appealed to the participants with a call to unite their efforts to achieve the ambitious goal declared by Nazarbayev from the UN rostrum - building a world free of nuclear weapons by 2045.

Mr. Kaveh Zahedi, Deputy Executive Secretary of ESCAP addressed the participants of the roundtable with a welcoming speech. He noted the relevance of Kazakhstan's policy on nuclear disarmament in the context of the "Security-Development" nexus. Deputy Director General of the Department of International Organizations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand M.Sriswasdi in her speech informed of the commitment of the Official Bangkok to the issue of non-proliferation and support of Kazakhstan's initiatives in this direction.

Along with this, the embassies of Russia, Mongolia, Cuba, Egypt, Nigeria, Japan, Mexico and Uzbekistan thanked the Embassy of Kazakhstan for the initiative to hold the event and noted the importance of uniting efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons. As part of the event, a film about the Semipalatinsk test site and the consequences of nuclear tests was also screened.